{"id":10706,"date":"2015-02-19T06:00:28","date_gmt":"2015-02-19T11:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.royalmontrealregiment.com\/?p=10706"},"modified":"2015-02-19T06:00:28","modified_gmt":"2015-02-19T11:00:28","slug":"mail-and-postal-censorship-in-1915","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rmrmuseum.com\/fr\/mail-and-postal-censorship-in-1915\/","title":{"rendered":"MAIL AND POSTAL CENSORSHIP in 1915"},"content":{"rendered":"

Friday, February 19, 1915<\/em><\/p>\n

In Billets, Fl\u00eatre<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Battalion War Diarist wrote for this day: \u201cCensoring men\u2019s letters.\u00a0 H.Q. Mess established in village inn. Signal lamps placed in Chateau tower for communication with out-lying Company H.Q.s.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [1]<\/a><\/p>\n

THIS DAY IN RMR HISTORY: \u00a0Having arrived in Fl\u00eatre, \u201cthe men of the 14th<\/sup> were billeted in the village, or in the barns and outbuildings of neighbouring farms.\u00a0 Battalion H.Q. was established in the Chateau de Wendigen and an Officers\u2019 Mess set up in the village inn.<\/p>\n

MAIL AND POSTAL CENSORSHIP: <\/strong>\u201cThe importance of letters”<\/strong> –\u00a0The most effective weapon used during World War One wasn\u2019t the shell or the tank, it was morale. The British Army believed that it was crucial to an allied victory, and it looked to the Post Office for help.<\/p>\n

The delivery of post was vital for two reasons. Firstly, receiving well wishes and gifts from home was one of the few comforts a soldier had on the Western Front. The majority of them spent more time fighting boredom than they did the enemy, and writing was one of the few hobbies available to them. For some, it was a welcome distraction from the horrors of the trenches.<\/p>\n

Secondly, letters served a propaganda purpose as everything that soldiers sent back was subject to censorship. The British Army claimed this was to prevent the enemy finding out secret information, but really it was to prevent bad news from reaching the home front. Letters from serving soldiers had a powerful role, not just in keeping families informed of the well-being of their loved ones; they also helped to sustain popular support for the war across the home front. Nothing could be allowed to jeopardize that.<\/p>\n

What was sent:\u00a0<\/strong>Soldiers sent a variety of different items home from the front lines. Souvenirs such as buttons and matchboxes often accompanied letters, and some even sent silk cards – embroidered motifs on strips of silk mesh which were mounted on postcards.<\/p>\n

The delivery process:\u00a0<\/strong>It took only two days for a letter to reach the front. The journey began at a purpose-built sorting depot at Regent’s Park. By the war\u2019s end, two billion letters and 114 million parcels had passed through it.\u00a0 From there, it was shipped to Le Havre, Boulogne or Calais where the Royal Engineers Postal Section were tasked with getting it to the battlefields. Staffed by just 250 men in 1914, the REPS grew to 4,000 by the end of the war.<\/p>\n